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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26934652">Come Stop Your Crying (It Will be Alright)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeonTheDimensionalGirl/pseuds/AeonTheDimensionalGirl'>AeonTheDimensionalGirl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I’ve Got You (You’re Safe Now) [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Canon Era, Deviates From Canon, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Guilty Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Sad Merlin (Merlin), Snarky Merlin (Merlin), Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:14:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,986</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26934652</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeonTheDimensionalGirl/pseuds/AeonTheDimensionalGirl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After being yelled at by his father, Arthur says some hurtful words to Merlin.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I’ve Got You (You’re Safe Now) [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939345</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>689</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Come Stop Your Crying (It Will be Alright)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><b>PROMPT No 11. PSYCH 101</b><br/>Defiance | Struggling | <b>Crying</b></p><p>I think this one might be the most... soft that I've written so far? I'll let you guys be the judge of that lol</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Arthur didn’t mean to lose his temper on Merlin.</p><p>He swears it on his mother’s name and Camelot.</p><p>But his father had just called him a disgrace and humiliated him in front of the council for a simple suggestion about reducing the people’s taxes and downright refusing to lead a new raid to a Druid camp and Arthur was just simmering with growing anger and mortification at the degrading and-</p><p>He managed to maintain his composure all the way to his chambers, faintly hearing Merlin’s familiar footsteps behind and almost sensing his worry as well-</p><p>“FUCK!” Arthur yelled in frustration after the doors closed, walking over to the windows to lean on to them, gripping the ledge tightly in an attempt to reign in his anger.</p><p>“Arthur-”</p><p>“<em>Don’t</em>, Merlin” the blond said with a raised finger, “Just- don’t”</p><p>The Crown Prince could see Merlin through the glass reflection, shoulders slightly hunched and biting his lip.</p><p>And then-</p><p>“I think we should express the objection in a way Uther will not oppose” the raven broke the silence at the same time the blond gritted his teeth. Couldn’t he see that it was useless after <em>that</em> yelling in the council chambers?!</p><p>“<em>Mer</em>lin-” Arthur hissed in warning as he turned around to glare at his servant.</p><p>“I’m just trying to help you!” Merlin said with bright azure eyes, “Perhaps not with the raid, but I could go forth and warn the Druids, they wouldn’t take my word for granted; but with the tax reduction, perhaps things should be phrased a different way so Uther will see reason!”</p><p>And Arthur just- snapped.</p><p>“You think it’s that easy, <em>Mer</em>lin?” he began to say in a low voice, slowly approaching the raven, “Because then alright, I’ll just try again harder tomorrow, and this time father will change his mind and we’ll both wear flowers crowns and happily hug it all out and be in our merry way”</p><p>“Er, well, perhaps not like that-” Merlin replied as he took a little step behind, suddenly looking unsure while the Prince began to advance towards him.</p><p>“Exactly! Because it doesn’t work like that!” Arthur yelled, throwing his arms into the air in exasperation at the boy’s naivety, “But it’s not that you’ll know anything about it, because you don’t know what it’s like to have this massive responsibility on your shoulders and you certainly don’t know what it’s like to be publicly degraded and you most certainly do not know what it feels like to feel like a failure!”</p><p>He kept on moving until the warlock’s back hit the wall.</p><p>“You don’t know anything!” the Crown Prince growled, “You know why Merlin? Because you’re just as stupid as you are ugly and a coward and you will never know how it feels like to have some sort of fucked up destiny upon your shoulders!”</p><p>Arthur regretted his words right away.</p><p>He could feel the silence taking over the room as Merlin’s lip began quivering and his eyes filled with tears.</p><p>“Merlin-”</p><p>But the boy was turning away, running towards the door at the servants’ entrance before getting out of the room and slamming the door.</p><p>Arthur heard the sob anyway.</p><p>“You idiot” he cursed to himself as he ran his hands through his face, “You stupid, fucking prat-”</p><p>With his heart on his throat, Arthur sets out after his dear friend.</p>
<hr/><p>After two candle marks, Arthur can’t find Merlin anywhere.</p><p>Gaius has not seen him since the council meeting, which rules out his room.</p><p>(He checked anyway, just in case)</p><p>He’s not in the stables.</p><p>Nor the library.</p><p>Guinevere has not seen trace of him since morn.</p><p>The empty chambers stayed empty.</p><p>The servants, the guards and the Knights that he encounters haven’t seen a hair.</p><p>Arthur is just starting to despair and panic that Merlin somehow enchanted himself out of existence when he stumbles onto the small pathway to the woods-</p><p>And sees footprints in the mud.</p><p>Footprints the blond recognizes as Merlin’s.</p><p>Breath hitching, Arthur immediately follows the trail to the forest, starting to become bewildered as the footprints lead him to a massive natural barrier made out of bushes and moss he’s quite sure it hadn’t been there before, but he moves forward nonetheless.</p><p>The blond trips a little bit on stray roots and boulders for a few times as he journeys in between the thick bushes, following the trace until, finally, he exits with a stumble to-</p><p>Arthur can’t help but gasp a little in awe.</p><p>A small creek, hidden out of view in the middle of the forest.</p><p>The place has a soothing and peaceful atmosphere to it, with wild flower beds surrounding the trees as bees and butterflies calmly and lazily fly around, and a willow tree right next to the small river, which has wide roots enough to comfortably lay, and in it seats-</p><p>Arthur breathes a sigh of relief.</p><p>Merlin.</p><p>He’s got his knees drawn up to his chest, hiding his head in his arms.</p><p>The blond feels another pang of remorse go through him as he notices the slight tremors on the warlock’s body and hears the soft weeping.</p><p>“Go away” Merlin mumbles with a croak once the Prince has gotten close enough to him.</p><p>“It’s me” Arthur said in a quiet voice.</p><p>“Exactly” the raven snarled, raising his head to send the Crown Prince a glare that could be enough to kill. Arthur flinched at the tone and the red rimmed eyes, “Go away, <em>Sire</em>”</p><p>“I know you’re upset-”</p><p>“Really? Wonder what gave it away-”</p><p>“But I came to apologize”</p><p>Perhaps in the past, when they barely knew each other, it would have been funny to see Merlin’s look of shock.</p><p>But Arthur was here on a mission, and the last thing he wanted was to be more than an ass to his dear friend.</p><p>“I shouldn’t have said those things to you” he began to say, crouching on the ground next to Merlin, “It was unfair, and disrespectful, especially after all you’ve been through since the moment you were born”</p><p>The blond knew to an extent that the raven hadn’t had it easy. Merlin may not talk about it much and even downplay it, but Arthur knows that the boy was ostracized for being a bastard born out of wedlock while growing up. He also knows (thanks to a conversation that he accidentally overheard between the raven and Hunith) that to add more salt to the wound, his secret magic made him a freak to the villager’s eyes. </p><p>“You- you’re not any of those things I called you. I- I think- no, <em>I know</em>- you’re really intelligent and the bravest man I’ve ever known, and-” Arthur continued on saying, nervously fidgeting with his mother’s ring while he felt his face heat up, “And you’re also quite attractive” he mumbled, wincing and looking away as Merlin let out a choking sound.</p><p>For a moment the blond didn’t say anything else, momentarily distracted by the clear waters of the stream as he gathered his final thoughts.</p><p>“And-” he gulped, finally coming to stare back at the warlock, “You probably know more about having an unfair destiny on your shoulders than I do”</p><p>“I think we might actually share that last one” Merlin said with a wry smile. Arthur chuckled.</p><p>“Perhaps” he admitted, before once again getting distracted by the beauty of the small creek and wondering how he never found it.</p><p>“How-” the Prince hesitated for a moment, “How did you find this place? I’ve explored all the grounds near the citadel when I was little, but I don’t recall ever finding this place”</p><p>Merlin looked away at the same time he mumbled something too quiet for the Prince to hear.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Because it didn’t exist”</p><p>Arthur gaped.</p><p>Then that meant-</p><p>“Merlin- are you meaning to tell me you created this place with your magic?”</p><p>Merlin nodded shyly, raising his hand to wipe away his tears.</p><p>“Gaius is always yelling at me for using my magic inside the castle, and it’s gotten to the point of paranoia after the whole Witchfinder thing-” he began to say, lip quivering slightly, “So one day I just, took a little stroll while gathering herbs, and I was feeling a little down, and I thought to myself that it would be nice to have a little safe haven to just- breathe”</p><p>“So you created it” Arthur whispered in realization. The raven timidly nodded again.</p><p>“Little by little” he revealed, biting his lip before asking, “Do- do you like it?”</p><p>“It’s beautiful” Arthur admitted, still looking around in wonder.</p><p>“Thank you” Merlin whispered coyly, sniffing and wiping away more tears, “It’s accepted, by the way” he said, “Your apology”</p><p>Even with the acceptance, the Prince was still ashamed of his actions.</p><p>“I really am sorry for saying those things to you” he whispered.</p><p>Despite his downhearted face, Merlin smiled softly at him.</p><p>“I know” he said, smile turning wry, “I can count with one hand the people who have apologized for hurting my feelings. They don’t really come after me, so you doing so means a lot” he added with a forced laugh.</p><p>But Arthur didn’t laugh. Frowning, he replayed the conversation.</p><p>“You said… that you created this place so you could… breathe” he began to say, “Why? I know you said Gaius yells at you for the magic- it is how I found out about it after all-”</p><p>Merlin snorted, clearly remembering the irony of the situation.</p><p>“-But there’s something else, isn’t it?” Arthur guessed with a gentle tone.</p><p>When Merlin looked away, the Prince knew he’d been right.</p><p>“Sometimes-” the raven whispered as his azure eyes began brimming with tears, “Sometimes I feel like- like I can’t breathe, in Camelot” he confessed in a small voice that made the blond’s heart ache, “I know- I know I have Gaius, and Gwen and- and you… and yet- I feel-” he cut himself off with a sob.</p><p>Arthur hated to admit that he didn’t know what to do. He’s never been good at seeing people cry-</p><p>But he’ll be damned if he didn’t try now.</p><p>As carefully as he could manage, he got between the roots of the willow tree to be closer to the weeping warlock, gently embracing him from behind before leaning back on the bark; Merlin crying all the way while Arthur began rubbing his arms in an attempt to soothe and calm him.</p><p>“I feel so lonely” the raven finally murmured between small sobs, “Like no one understands how hard it is, to pretend and lie- because if anyone else knew what I really am- they will hate me. And I try- I try not to think about it too much, that’s why I come here, to just- not break apart, but I-” he shivered against the Prince, “I don’t know why I am now breaking apart” he admitted in a small voice.</p><p>The blond came to a realization.</p><p>
  <em>Oh. </em>
</p><p>“Because I yelled at you” Arthur stated with regret, thinking back to the argument with his father and his own reaction, “And it all went out” he gently turned Merlin around so they could be face to face, “It happens in different ways, but the result is the same at the end”</p><p>Merlin’s eyes widened.</p><p>“Tears and yelling?”</p><p>“Yes”</p><p>“I mean-” Merlin now looked sheepish, “I <em>was</em> pushing you a bit, so I should apologize too”</p><p>“Even if you did, you were trying to help” Arthur assured, “And now that I think of it, your ideas were good” he admitted, feeling his face heat again when Merlin grinned, eyes bright with delight, “Just- the next time you’re feeling down like this… talk to me? I don’t fancy accidentally hurting your feelings again” he asked.</p><p>“Only if you do the same” Merlin replied in agreement with a small yet gentle smile, which Arthur quickly returned.</p><p>“Deal”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This prompt made me realize how much I've made poor Merlin cry so far. I honestly blanked for this one in consequence.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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